All posts tagged Political Parties

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a stalwart House conservative who once served as Jon Huntsman Jr.’s chief of staff, turned away from his former boss Tuesday and endorsed Mitt Romney for president.

In an interview, Mr. Chaffetz said he had committed to helping Mr. Romney’s campaign “a long time ago,” but he could not go public with an endorsement until he spoke to Mr. Huntsman, who he had served both politically and in the Utah governor’s office. Mr. Chaffetz and Mr. Huntsman spoke late last week, the congressman said.

“I want to beat Barack Obama. I think Mitt Romney is in the best position to do that,” Mr. Chaffetz said, stressing his private- and public-sector experience.

The 2012 campaign will have a lot of twists, but the connections between Messrs. Romney and Huntsman could provide some of the most personally difficult. Both men are Mormon, with deep family roots in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that go back to its founding days. Mr. Huntsman’s mother, Karen, was a college roommate of Mr. Romney’s sister, Jane, at the University of Utah. One of Mr. Huntsman’s grandfathers, David Haight, was a boyhood best friend of Mr. Romney’s father, George.

Utahans and Mormons like Mr. Chaffetz will be pulled toward one or the other. Mr. Chaffetz said his decision was not meant as a repudiation of Mr. Huntsman, who has moved to the left of the congressman on some issues, such as global warming. It is meant to be “an affirmation of Mitt Romney,” who has a “great grassroots organization” and “a fund-raising machine,” he said.

“These are both very good men. Jon Huntsman is going to be very formidable in whatever he does, but Mitt Romney has been working at this for quite some time,” Mr. Chaffetz said. “He’s naturally learned lessons along the way.”

“He’s not perfect,” Mr. Chaffetz said about Mr. Romney, “but we know what those warts are. The sooner our party rallies around a candidate the better.” Read More »

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a leader of the House’s vocal but less-than-powerful contingent of Democratic liberals, has announced she’s retiring from Congress in 2012.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D., Calif.)

Woolsey, a 73-year-old California Democrat, has been known especially for her opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was the first member of Congress to call for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq, and helped force a vote on ending the war.

“Nothing has animated me more than my opposition to the wars our country has been fighting for nearly the last 10 years,” Ms. Woolsey said in announcing her departure to a group of supporters in Petaluma, Calif. “They are a moral blight on the nation, and I have not been afraid to say so.”

Ms. Woolsey’s, whose style is unscripted, colorful and folksy, sometimes found her liberalism at odds with prevailing conservative winds, and on occasion with Democratic leaders themselves. “We haven’t won every battle over the years, but we have fought valiantly,” Ms. Woolsey said.

The congresswoman is a former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In addition to her anti-war positions, she was outspoken in favor a government-run alternative in President Barack Obama’s health law, a so-called public option. And she’s pushed for such priorities as a school breakfast plan… Read More »

But the only candidate who really unifies the crowd at the Republican Leader Conference here is on the other side of the ballot: President Barack Obama.

Some Republicans are lukewarm about the current crop of candidates running to take on Mr. Obama, but the message from some party elders seems to be: Pick one — any one — and rally around that candidate.

“At the end of the day, we’re going to nominate somebody, and whoever that somebody is is going to be many multiples better than Barack Obama,” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told the crowd.

As tea party activists threaten to wage primary campaigns against Republicans in Congress, Mr. Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee who has assumed the job of party sage after bowing out of the presidential race, warned the audience of conservatives not to impose litmus tests on candidates and pleaded with them to stick with the eventual nominee… Read More »

Newt Gingrich, facing, talks with Michael George from Strong American Now while touring C&M Machine Products in Hudson, N.H., Wednesday. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Newt Gingrich’s campaign manager, Rob Johnson, along with spokesman Rick Tyler and senior strategists and aides who had been working in the early primary states resigned today.

The former House speaker, whose GOP presidential primary campaign stumbled out of the gates, was told at a meeting Thursday that the top tier of the campaign was leaving over “differences in direction.” Mr. Gingrich told the aides he plans to remain in the race.

David Carney, the longtime political adviser to Texas Gov. Rick Perry who signed up to assist the Gingrich campaign, said the resignations came after “the professional team came to the realization that the direction of the campaign they sought and Newt’s vision for the campaign were incompatible.” Mr. Carney has also left the Gingrich campaign. Read More »

Normally, the accusation goes the other way, with Republicans questioning the commitment of President Barack Obama and other Democrats to the idea that the U.S. is inherently superior to other nations. Several GOP presidential candidates have leveled that charge.

But Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), chairwoman of the DNC, questioned whether Republican opposition to the bailout of the auto industry and other Democratic policies draws GOP views on “exceptionalism” into question. At a breakfast Thursday sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, she said the notion behind the auto bailout was to support American manufacturing.

“We need to focus on making it in America again,” she said. She said that Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman don’t seem to understand that. “I’m concerned about their commitment to American exceptionalism.”… Read More »

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is the flavor of the moment as he weighs a White House bid, so he should generate a good crowd next week when he appears at a reception in Washington to benefit Senate Republicans.

Mr. Daniels is set to headline the fund-raiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee Wednesday, according to an invitation distributed to Republican operatives in Washington.

The Indiana governor will appear with freshmen Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Dan Coats of Indiana, as well as longtime Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, who is under fire from conservative activists back in the Hoosier State who are hoping unseat him in the GOP primary.

If Mr. Daniels hasn’t announced his intentions to run for president by then, expect a horde of reporters and cameras to track his every move outside the NRSC offices, a few blocks from the Capitol. Read More »

Increasingly, that’s what Republicans are asking themselves as they look at the state of their 2012 presidential field. Answer: The field probably isn’t complete yet, but the odds of some shocking new entrant appearing aren’t high either.

Mitt Romney (left) and Tim Pawlenty

Let’s recap: Two big-time Republican names, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former presidential contender (and Iowa caucus power) Mike Huckabee are declining the honor of running. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has stumbled out of the gate, deepening doubts about his viability. Donald Trump has bowed out, taking both some comic relief and a spotlight-stealer off the stage. My colleagues Jonathan Weisman and Neil King Jr. review this opening stage nicely in a piece in today’s Journal. Also, check out this WSJ interactive graphic.

All of this is probably good news for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who looks ever more like the top dog, and for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, whose claim to the top-alternative position is improved. But inevitably, the changes of the last week will increase yearning among Republicans for somebody new. Could there be someone?

Let’s consider the possibilities. First, the circumstances would seem to improve the chances of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, just back from his job as ambassador to China, to portray himself as precisely that alternative to the tired old list everybody has been looking at for months. Mr. Huntsman is about to tour New Hampshire and visit South Carolina. He’s been preparing for months, yet he might amount to a fresh face when the desire for one is there, and he comes prepared with a campaign machine to boot… Read More »

One of the attorneys involved in the Citizens United case that changed the way elections are funded could be pushing the edge of the envelope again.

James Bopp Jr. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)

James Bopp Jr., an opponent of campaign finance restrictions who served as a legal adviser for Citizens United in its successful the 2010 Supreme Court case, recently established Republican Super PAC, a type of campaign committee that can raise and spend unlimited sums from corporations and individuals so long as it does not coordinate with political parties and candidates.

The new venture could, in effect, allow candidates and party committees to raise unlimited sums during the 2012 election. Unlike other super PACs that have sprung up since the landmark 2010 Supreme Court case, the Republican Super PAC promises donors it will spend money on the candidate of their choice… Read More »

EL PASO, Texas–President Barack Obama hopes that talking about border security might pressure Republicans to support immigration legislation. That, of course, would be good for Democrats who have long been pressing the issue.

President Barack Obama greets people in the audience after giving a speech on Immigration reform, Tuesday, May 10, 2011, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

But in a roundabout way, it might be good for Republicans, too, one GOP pollster says.

Mr. Obama came to this border city Tuesday to arguethat his administration has made enough progress on border security that it is time to move ahead with other fixes to the system that many Hispanic voters are demanding. He blamed Republicans for the impasse. But even without the president’s hits, the Republican Party has big problems with Latino voters, says Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who has studied the Latino vote and advises GOP candidates about how to capture it.

The pro-enforcement, anti-illegal immigration rhetoric that many in the GOP have adopted has turned off many Hispanics, he says, and that’s a problem given the rising share of Latinos in the electorate… Read More »

Mr. Heller’s new position sets up a tough re-election match in what will be one of the Senate battlegrounds of 2012.

Within minutes of taking the oath administered by Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Heller told reporters that his first act as senator was to sign on as a cosponsor of the balanced budget amendment already co-sponsored by every GOP senator. The measure, which would prevent the government from running deficits, is not likely to clear the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“The biggest issue facing our country right now is our debt,” Mr. Heller said, before adding that he supports House Republicans’ budget plan for fiscal 2012. “The alternative of course is to raise taxes.”

He also remained uncommitted on an upcoming vote to raise the debt ceiling. “It will be very, very difficult for me to vote for it,” he said… Read More »

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.